


In Between Scenes

by bow_ties_R_cool



Series: Are you sure i'm not high? [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Author does not condone minor x adult pairings, Gen, TW alcohol use, TW i will make you flippin cry, The bond number five and the reader have is familial ONLY, Whoooo i love making side stuff when the main stuff isn't done yet, his one true love is delores, tw cursing, tw drug use, tw panic attacks, tw suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26543683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bow_ties_R_cool/pseuds/bow_ties_R_cool
Summary: A series of deleted scenes that didn't make the cut (either for time or lack of proper detail) for my main story "Are you sure i'm not high?" and "Love across timelines." This story won't be updated as often but it will have more original content
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Reader, Klaus Hargreeves/Reader, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Reader
Series: Are you sure i'm not high? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1930210
Comments: 2
Kudos: 52





	1. Alright, if it makes you happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How exactly did our fair universe hopper cope with having Klaus and Ben as roommates in a 1 bed motel room?  
>  AKA  
> You remember the "As you wish" Scene in "The Princess bride"? Yeah, it's EXACTLY what you're thinking.

** Day 1 **

  
Being dragged along side streets and dark alleys with a man you've barely known for a couple of hours was - in a word - TERRIFYING. If you didn't know what this man was like you'd be off in freak out land assuming the worst and he was gleefully planning on robbing you of a kidney or something! Which, judging by the state of dress you were in, would explain why Klaus had chosen these dark and dangerous paths. Last thing you need right now is the police coming up and questioning you both, and the dreaded "streetwalker" question is not something you were looking forward to being asked.

Soon enough you both were outside the motel. You nearly had a heart attack when you discovered where exactly he was staying at. "What?" Klaus asked. "The front desk guy doesn't ask any questions and nobody arrests me in the middle of the night! What more could you ask for?"

"Clean sheets. Clean floors. Clean toilets." Ben listed off "Just to name a few."

  
"Oh, what are you going to do with a clean toilet Ben? You'd just phase right through it."

You remain silent as the events of the last few hours finally catch up with you and as you enter the room you quietly ask to use the bathroom. Klaus waves you off and proceeds to faceplant on the bed while ben eyes you with concern.

You close the bathroom and slowly sink down onto the floor. You think about what you've lost by coming here. About who you'll never be able to see again, where you'll never be able to go. All because you got caught up in something you weren't fully aware of yet. You can feel your breaths becoming more rapid and panicked and you aren't sure but it feels like your heart is beating out of your chest. You grip your hair so tight it hurts and you can feel your chest tightening in response. The tears start falling in full force and the hyperventilating isn't helping matters.   
You don't notice someone enter the bathroom until you feel a pair of arms around you. Klaus doesn't say anything, simply hold you as you ride out your impromptu panic attack, for which you're immensely grateful. You're sure that if you tried to speak now only more tears would come out.

  
It isn't until maybe an hour later that you feel yourself calm down enough to try and stand up. You feel your legs wobble and klaus moves to catch you before you fall. Slowly you both make your way over to the one full sized bed - you aren't even going to question how you missed that - and He helps you under the covers. Klaus crawls in after you and you gently lay your head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. It's calming, soothing, a stark contrast to how Klaus normally acts. "How'd you find out?" You rasp. "Just...one of those feelings i had." Klaus breathes out. "Yeah?" You question. "Keep having them, please."

  
"Okay" Klaus chuckles, "i will, if it makes you happy."   


**Day 28**

  
"Where's Klaus?" Walking into the motel room you're struck by how eerily quiet it is. Aside from the sounds of ben turning the page of whatever ghost book he had at the time. Ben points to the bathroom. "What, again?"

  
"Listen, he's not setting fire to the curtains or getting high off of Ketamine. I count this as a win." Ben has a point, but still. You knock on the door to the bathroom. "Klaus?" You call out, "You doing alright? This is like...the 5 bath you've taken today" No response. "Klaus?" You call out and push open the door.

  
What you see is...shocking.

  
Klaus' entire upper body is sunk into the tub and all you can see are his legs and black toenail painted feet. But you aren't seeing bubbles. Klaus isn't breathing. "Oh, shit!" you drop to your knees and yank him out. Immediately Klaus starts sputtering and coughing and you breathe out a sigh of relief.

  
Until he starts yelling at you.

  
"Why did you do that! It was finally quiet, for the first time today i was able to just exist without the noise and then you...you...pulled me out of that bubble of happiness!"

"For good fucking reason, you moron! You were purposefully drowning yourself!"

  
"No i wasn't! Believe it or not, i know when to pull myself out of the brink of death! It comes with being me!" You aren't sure if that's water, or tears, but for his sake you aren't going to question it. "Klaus you know if you need someone to keep things quiet to come and talk to me. I don't mind." You're begging him at this point. This kind of behavior isn't healthy and you're scared that one day he might not come back up for air. Klaus shrugs his shoulders and makes little squiggles in the water with his fingers.

  
"Didn't want to bug you. I know you've been looking at places to stay and jobs and-"

  
You quickly cut him off "All of which ended up as complete busts. Hate to say it, but i'm not in the system." 

  
"What do you mean?" Klaus is confused. Surely you'd have to have some kind of record.

  
"No birth certificate, no social security card...just. Nothing!" You throw your hands out in exasperation.

  
"Officially, I don't exist. I got no home, no job, nothing. Face it buddy. You're stuck with me."

"Yeah? You wouldn't mind being stuck with a deadbeat who can see the dead?"

  
"Nah" You wave him off. "Not if it makes you happy. Now come on, this waters starting to stink and you look like a prune."

** Day 43 **

  
There were fewer things in life you loathed more than going shopping. You weren't sure if it had something to do with being stuck in a pandemic for more than half the year, or just people in general. But you were more than content with online shopping. The less people you had to interact with, the better. So to find out that COVID-19 wasn't even a thought of thing in this universe felt like a breath of fresh air.

  
The downside? Now it meant you had no excuse to not go out in public and interact with people just so the both of you wouldn't starve. Because apparently Klaus couldn't be bothered to own a phone. Ben had asked once while you were in the grocery store one day, what it was like being in that universe, with the looming doomsday hanging over your heads here, surely yours would be the better place to live. 

Klaus was silently listening while seated in the shopping cart, head down and playing with some lint on his coat, but jerked his head up when he heard you scoff loudly at Ben.

  
"Are you kidding me?! Between all the riots and protests, fires that have decimated almost half the country, threats of nuclear war from north korea, our president being a literal cheese puff with a rap sheet 6 miles long and GROWING, and a FUCKING GLOBAL PANDEMIC..." You're breathing hard and you can feel your shoulders shake in anger. "trust me." You whisper "I would take this universe over anything mine had to offer. Because at least here i'm with you both."

  
"Alright." Ben's quieter than usual "If it makes you happy..." 

  
The rest of the trip is finished in silence as they contemplate just what exactly you went through to become so adamant on never returning home.

  
**Day 49 **

  
"Klaus, were you expecting a package?" You had found a strange manilla envelope sitting outside your motel room that morning, with "PLAY ME" written in black sharpie on the front.

  
"Sorry schatz, the last thing i 'bought' were these pants." He gestures to the lace up leather pants his character is synonomus for and you merely raise an eyebrow. You choose to ignore the implications for now and focus on opening the package. Inside you find a dvd, and a handwritten note that simply says 'I'm so sorry, i never meant for this to happen.'

  
"Holy shit... who do you think sent it?" 

  
"You don't think it's a snuff film, do you? Or a porno?"

  
You look up sharply and while Klaus is staring at the DVD you whack him across the back of the head. "OW! What was that for?!"

  
"For losing the single brain cell you and Ben share, now come on help me pop this into the player."

  
The two of you scramble around for the DVD player hooked up to the tv in the top corner of the room and as you insert the disc, you're filled with a sense of dread. What was on here? Snippets of your home life? The night you got taken away? Childhood secrets that were never caught on film? You feel klaus slide his hand into yours and your fingers interlock together as you both sit on the bed. It helps ease a little of the anxiety you have right now.

  
The picture starts up, blurry and out of focus. "Hang on!" you hear a voice, high and feminine. The focus sharpens and you're struck by the image.

  
It's you, at Tessa's Bachelorette party. You don't even remember filming this. Shit maybe you WERE stoned that night. Hell, you can't even rememeber who those other people in the video were besides Tessa.

  
"Okkkkkayyyyy, why exactly are we filming this?" Past you questioned. "For posterior!" Someone in the back yelled. "Posterity" Tessa rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. You would never admit it to her, but you always had a tiny crush on your friend. She was just that right amount of curve and had legs for days, and she was so kind to you. Never failed to make sure you were mentally okay for the moment, kept a pack of tissues on hand in case the stress got too much and you needed something to tear up and it wasn't your fingernails.

  
"Okay! So this is what i would like to call a 'Fandom Cheat sheet!' The rules are simple! I'm going to list out a fandom, you're going to tell me the person you'd have a cheat day with, all characters are on the table so long as they are over age! Ready? AVENGERS!" 

  
And that's how it went for a solid chunk of the video and it seemed harmless enough, everybody giving out the characters and their reasons for being with them. Hell even Klaus and ben got in on it to at one point, shouting out their own characters they'd be with.

  
Yeah, finding out Ben has a thing for Rose tyler was kinda shocking. Klaus having the hots for Khal Drogo however, was not. 

  
Everything was going great until you someone shouted "Umbrella Academy!"

  
It went dead quiet in the motel room. All you could hear was the video and wow suddenly that corner looks really interesting why don't you just - and nope, Klaus isn't letting your hand go.  
People were calling out names, Some said "Diego!" a few "Luthers" were thrown out, a chunk of "Allisons!" "Vanya!" "Ben!"

  
But you might have been the only one who said "Klaus."

  
"Really?" Tessa asked, "Why klaus? Isn't he a little too...i dunno, immature?"

"Maybe." past you replied and wow that corner looks even more interesting than before you would really like to curl up in it and die of embarrassment now please. 

"But that only adds to his charm. I empathize with his character. To be pushed aside, replaced, mocked? I know what that's like! I mean, He gets kidnapped, tortured, sent to fucking Vietnam, to 1968 for 10 months, gains and loses one of the only people he's loved more than himself, and nobody has at any point - save Diego in the day that never was and that doesn't even count by the way! - asked if he was alright. And he still manages to make light of situations, to make people smile and laugh while the world is crumbling around him! I would kill to be around that kind of person. Because it just means we're cut from the same cloth." 

  
Nobody says anything for a moment. "And the drugs and booze?"

  
You shrug your shoulders. "He got locked in a mauseleum when he was a kid because he was scared of the dead. What would YOU do to stave off the pain and trauma?"

  
You refuse to look, but you can hear the sound of the video fading off until it ends, probably the last good memory you had of that universe and someone had gotten a hold of it somehow. You aren't sure how or why, but you'll be forever grateful to them. But right now...you really wish you had seen this video in private. Cause you honestly don't think you can look at Klaus right now. You feel his hand tug you until you're lying with your head in his lap. 

  
"Was that true?" He asked "The stuff you said in the video. About you know, empathizing with me and shit?

"  
"Yeah. All of it. Where i'm from you're a fan favorite in a lot of circles on the internet, but a lot of people - myself included - relate to you." Klaus starts running his fingers through your hair and you slowly relax into his lap. You wave your hands around vaguely. "The whole, anxiety and depression thing i mean. Not the seeing the dead bit. Though i dunno, maybe add seeing ben to the list of shared traumas?"

  
"Oh ha ha" Ben grumbles but smiles anyways

  
Klaus hums thoughtfully "Alright if it makes you happy"

  
"Yeah. yeah i think it does."

....."Wait, what was that bit about me being kidnapped and sent to Vietnam in the 60s?"

Ah, shit.

  
**Day 54**

  
"Alright boys read 'em an weep. Full straight!" You slam your cards down onto the table.

"Thats great and all but i'm pan and non-binary. Try again."

"No. No klaus we're talking about your poker hand not your sexuality. Though for the record, i'm pan and enby too too so you don't have much room to talk."

"Oh, in that case..." Klaus throws down his hand. "Royal flush bitches! That's 3 weeks i'm allowed to wear your clothes now!"

  
You and klaus had been at this all day now, a nonstop game of Texas hold 'em to determine whether or not he'd ever stop stealing your clothes. You didn't care that he was taking them, oh no. You cared that he was stretching out the collars on all your shirts and you don't even HAVE skirts anymore. It's getting to the point you've taken to hiding your clothes just so he won't wear them. 

  
"Whaaaat?" You cry out "That's bullshit! How-" You turn your head to see Ben quickly look away and you whip your head around back at Klaus. "You cheater! You can't use ben like that!"

  
"Why not? I'm simply taking advantage of the local resources!" 

  
"Not a resource, but thanks for including me." Ben chimes in but you point your finger at him without looking "You shush, i'll deal with you later." 

"I...why is it so hard for you to stop stealing my clothes? Our wardrobe is PRACTICALLY the same! You have no real reason to steal them!"

"Would you believe me if i told you they smell like you?"

You pause in your rambling "I...what?"

  
"Yeah! it's like...vanilla and mangos. It's very refreshing!" You have a deadpan stare at this point and Ben is facepalming.

  
"Klaus with how often you wear my things, i'm lucky if they don't smell like weed."

"Well it smells like vanilla and mangos to me, come on, what's the harm? I'll let you wear my clothes! they'd make you look just...grrr!" he slips up behind you and hugs your waist, purring for good measure....ahhh shit why did you have to look into his eyes, he's got the puppy pout in full force now!

  
"I..." You let out a sigh "Alright, if it makes you happy, You can keep wearing my clothes. 

  
"Yay!" He kisses your cheek and rushes over to the closet.

  
"But the next skirt you steal better be Allisons!"

  
"Yeah, sure i'll get right on that just as soon as daddy dearest drops dead!"

**24 hours later**

  
"Daddy dearest dropped dead, so guess we're ransacking your sisters closet!"

  
"Oh, shut up Universe Hopper!"

  
"Hmm...Alright, if it makes you happy!"


	2. I think we're alone now...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I went ahead and gave the dance scene from the first episode its own chapter. Yes, it's full of so much teeth-rotting fluff you'll get cavities. Yes you'll thank me for it later.

In between scenes: I think we're alone now

"True, but think of it this way, you hit rock bottom right out the gate with the big man, now there's nowhere to go but up!" You open your mouth to argue when you hear the opening notes to "I think we're alone now". You and Klaus glance at each other then look up at the ceiling. Luther.

  
  
_~Children Behave~_  
 _~That's what they say when we're together~_  
  
Klaus stares at you longingly. If this doesn't cheer you up...  
"My dear Universe hopper," Klaus hops off the table and extends a hand towards you "Would you care to dance?"  
  


You chuckle tiredly and let Klaus pull you to him. His hand not in yours is clasped on your waist and you try your hardest not to blush at the contact.

  
_~And watch what you say~_  
 _~The don't understand and so we're~_  
  
He begins to pull you into a pseudo waltz and your stumbling over your own feet and giggling "Klaus!" You cry out, "Stop! I can't dance!"  
He merely sends you a dazzling smile.  
  
 _~Running just as fast as we can~_  
 _~Holding onto one anothers hand~_  
  
"The point isn't to know how to dance, Schatzen. The point is have fun!" Klaus pulls you into a twirl for emphasis and you yelp in surprise.   
  
_~Trying to get away, into the night~_  
 _~And so you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say~_  
  
 _"I Think we're alone now...There doesn't seem to be anyone around..."_ You sing along to the chorus and laugh as your dance partner grabs the urn and begins to dance with it.  
  
 _~I think we're alone now..._  
 _~The beating of our hearts is the only sound~_

You take a swig of the drink sitting on the table, feeling it burn going down your throat. But also giving you the boost of confidence you needed to continue this game the two of you were playing.  
  
_~Look at the way~_  
 _~We gotta hide what we're doing~_  
 _~Cause what would they say?~_

Swinging and swaying your body to the music is almost a cathartic experience, and as you're passing Klaus he sends you a dazzling grin and gives Reginalds urn a hearty kiss.   
You quickly pluck it out of his hands and set it back onto the table, grabbing Klaus and twirling him around with you as the lead this time. 

_~If they ever knew and so we're~_   
_~Running just as fast as we can~_   
_~Holding onto one anothers hand~_

There's no rhyme or rhythm to the moves, you simply let the beat flow through you. You can't even remember what you were sad about in the first place.  
All you know is the music and the joy of being with him.  
  
~Trying to get away, Into the night~  
~And so you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say~

_"~I think we're alone now...There doesn't seem to be anyone around...~"_ Klaus sings along to the chorus this time and the roles are quickly reversed, with him back as leader and quickly spinning the two of you around.

_~I think we're alone now...~_   
_~The beating of our hearts is the only sound...~_

  
And as the song begins to fade out, Klaus decides to end it with a flourish and quickly dips you. You yelp and quickly grab onto his arms to keep yourself steady and playfully glare at him. His only response is to grin unabashedly at you and pull you back up.

"So? Feel any better?" He asks.  
  
"Yeah." You laugh, "I'm not going to lie, this helped way more than I thought it would. Thank you."   
  
"Anytime. Can't let my little Universe hopper stay all sad and shit, now can I?"  
  
Before you can respond, you feel hear the crackling sounds of thunder and the rumble beneath your feet...


	3. Apocalypse Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How exactly DID Five know the reader? This Chapter focuses on their time in the Apocalypse together. WARNING: You will cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: I do NOT condone Minor x Adult Relationships in ANY capacity. The bond Five and the reader share is Sibling and familial ONLY!

**In Between Scenes - Apocalypse Now**

  
When Five had initially time travelled into the apocalypse, what he had found was death and destruction. Bodies scattered all over the place and fires raging where ever he went. There was a vain hope in the back of his mind that he might find someone - one of his family members maybe - that would have answers about what had happened.  
  
When he had found Delores early on in day 1, Five had thought that maybe things were looking up, that he had a companion and friend. Even if she was a mannequin, she was there for him in a way his family wasn't.   
  
That tune quickly changed when he discovered his siblings bodies in the rubble of the Icarus Theater.  
  
Five was distraught, pushing against their corpses in the vain hope that maybe, MAYBE, one of them might wake up. _'Maybe it's not them'_ Five kept thinking to himself. _'Maybe, they survived, somehow._ ' He closes his eyes in fear. _'Please don't let these people be my family'_  
  
When Five heard a rock clatter he sharply turned his head to the noise and scrambled to discover whatever had caused it. Even if it was just a noise, Five would gladly take the distraction over staring at these...he couldn't say "Siblings" yet. Not until he knew for sure.  
  
Five wasn't prepared for the sight that had greeted him.  
  
You were kneeling in the rubble, crying and gasping. Next to you was a man with curly dark brown hair, and he could see that he was clearly dead. But you didn't seem to care, you kept clutching his hand and whispering "I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry. I love you." over and over again like a mantra. You had a shimmering blue aura around you, almost translucent.  
  
Five was so close to believing that they weren't his family. Until he saw the umbrella tattoo on the hand you were clutching like a lifeline. Five sinks to his knees in despair. You notice him then, broken out of whatever trance you had been in. "Five." You whisper and his eyes widen in surprise. You know him?   
  
A piece of debris falls right above your head and Five quickly shouts "NO!" But it doesn't do anything. Merely bounces off the Aura you have surrounding you. "How..." Five quickly scrambles to his feet and looks down at you. You look up at him with tired, dead, eyes. The light left them the moment they left his. "Who are you?" He whispers.  
  
You merely stare back, too numb to respond.  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The first couple of weeks you spend with Five are quiet, pensive. You don't say much, and the aura remains shielded around you like a security blanket. You refuse to let Five do any of the work regarding the burial of the bodies. He was still just a kid, and no child should ever have to bury a loved one. Especially not like this.  
  
You don't say anything as the tears flow silently down his face. And if he sees the tears running down yours, he doesn't say.   
  
But you clutch onto his hand and he clutches back. The handmade grave markers stare back at the two of you. Five never found Vanya or Ben, and you didn't have the heart to tell him what had happened. But he still made markers for them all the same. Even for Pogo and Grace. Reginald was the only one left out, but you honestly couldn't blame him.   
  
You continue to stare at Klaus' grave, the occasional sniffle coming out. Five looks over at you.  
  
"Who was he?" He murmurs. "To you I mean."  
  
You still don't look at him. "My best friend. And my lover."   
  
You look down at Five and take in just how ragged he looks. It's been at least a couple of weeks since you found each other and you haven't said much to him. "[Y/N]"  
"What?"

"My name. It's [Y/N]. We've been together for a while now and you don't even know my name. I'm sorry, I'm such an ass."

"Don't be. It's understandable given the circumstances." Five waves a hand around vaguely "It's not as if anyone but myself or Delores is going to be around." You laugh then, and the sound is a welcome respite from the hell the two of you have been subjected to. The blue aura flickers and disappears completely, and you look at Five in shock.

"Well. That's new."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
You eventually explain to Five the circumstances that led you both here, how you fell through a portal onto Klaus, started seeing the dead that he conjured on purpose and how you were able to shield from the ones that he didn't. You didn't know what kind of powers you had exactly, only that you were able to repel negative emotions like some kind of...super powered magnet. Problem was, you could also attract those same negative emotions, and it caused a burning headache in your mind. You both had figured, a strong enough headache was what had eventually caused the Forcefield -like aura around you.  
  
Five is...understandably confused when you mention the whole "Alternate universe" and "Comic book/tv show character." He takes it better than Klaus did though.  
  
"Huh." He muses. "I guess the multiverse theory was right."  
  
Every few months or so he asks another question regarding the events leading up to this. About you, About what his family was like. About the Commission, about the Handler.  
You tell him about how you stole Reginald's power playbook in the hopes that it might dissuade Vanya's serial killer boyfriend from going after her. About how Vanya has powers. And how upset she was at constantly being ostracized and excluded so she...blew up the moon.  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
You don't think you laughed quite so hard in your life at a response like that.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Over time, You and Five had grown a strong sibling bond together. Maybe 6-7 years had passed and Five had grown into a young adult. You know those rumors about him looking like a young John Mullaney? They weren't exactly too far off the mark.  
  
It's night time, there's a fire going and you're holed up with Five and Delores inside an old grocery store with a roof still attached. You think it might be October with how cold the weather is getting again. You're staring into the fire with Delores next to you while Five is rummaging for whatever scraps he can come across. You lean back on your elbows and close your eyes as you continue to listen to Fives scattered curses and commentary.  
  
"Question." Five pops out of nowhere and you shriek in surprise and fall on your back.  
  
Looking up, you see Five smirk down at you. You just flip him off in response. "What?"  
  
He's holding a bottle of wine. "You drink?"  
  
  


"You know..." You muse, taking a swig of wine. "I never had the balls to say 'I love you' to Klaus." You're both a little tipsy at this point and it's a welcome distraction.  
  
"Why didn't you?" Five asks. You shrug in response. "A lot of reasons. If there was a top one though, i'd say I was scared. I spent so much of my life being there for other people that i never assumed anyone would be there for me. And Klaus...He was always there for me. He understood. We never judged each other on our choices, and no matter how insane the situation, we always had each others backs."  
  
Nodding, Five takes a swig from his own bottle. "And if you could talk to your other self? What would you tell them?"  
  
You stare at the fire, watching the flames dance. "I'd tell them that life's too short to waste time on 'What if's'. I'd tell them that I shouldn't deny myself happiness because of what i had seen on a show. I'd tell them to not drink Jack Daniels cause you'll end up with a tattoo the next morning and a whole lot of regret."  
  
Five just blinks at you. "What?"  
  
"Nothing. It's...it's nothing."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The day that Five finds Vanya's book was...special. Special in that for almost 3 days straight, you couldn't get him to tear his gaze longer than maybe 30 seconds. And that was just to eat or drink something. You have to admit, it was an engaging read, sure, but this was getting ridiculous.   
  
You eventually give up on trying to get his attention. Five would come back to you in his own time.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The morning of Fives 35th birthday wasn't anything special. It hardly ever was anymore. Delores had offered her well wishes, as did [Y/N], but on today of all days, something was off. Your leg was bouncing restlessly and you kept looking between Five and your little makeshift rucksack. You might have been getting older, But that didn't mean your love for your younger brother was any less prevalent.   
  
Sighing, Five wearily gestures to you. "Go on, get it out of your system." Your smile lights up the room and you hobble over to your bag.   
  
The last few years had been hard on you. Pushing almost 50, your body wasn't strong enough to cope with an apocalypse and you were beginning to wonder how much time you had left with him. Just last week your left leg gave out on you entirely and you sprained your ankle as a result. You worried about how Five would cope with being on his own, with only Delores for company once you passed on.   
  
But that was a worry for another time. For now, you pulled out a small object wrapped in cloth. "It isn't much," You begin, "But I thought given the circumstances, it was fitting."  
  
Five unwraps the cloth and is struck by how beautiful it is. Inside is a Silver pocket watch, somehow with the clock still working. "How...?"  
  
"Lucky break I guess. Flip it around, that's the important bit."  
  
Five turns the watch and on the back is an engraving. 'To Aidan' It says. "Aidan? Who's that?"  
  
You merely stare at him and raise your eyebrows. "Me? Why?"  
  
"Well," You start, "You left before ever getting a proper name, and honestly? You strike me as an Aidan. But then again, that's what your actors name was, so maybe i'm biased. Why, do you not like it? Cause I can pick another one and just scratch that off-"  
  
"Don't you dare!" Five snaps. He tenderly rubs his thumb over the engraving with a loving expression. "I like it. Aidan Hargreeves. Has a nice ring to it. What do you think Delores?"   
  
This ravaged hellscape has left you both exhausted, but at least you were able to bring some happiness in his life. You grunt in surprise as Five wraps you in a hug. You hug back and for a moment, it's not 2 people who got caught on the wrong end of the end of the world. It's just 2 siblings, trying their best to be happy.  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Five stares at the marker signifying your gravestone. He's solemn and stone-faced. Five was only 40 when you passed. It wasn't anything special, one day your heart simply...stopped. You were pushing 55 after all.   
  
He buried you next to Klaus, made sure you were both side by side. What you couldn't have in life, he made sure you had in death. He reaches into his left pocket and thumbs the Pocketwatch you had given him for his birthday. He bows his head and a few silent tears slip out and catch on his beard.   
  
"I don't care what anyone else says. You are family. And you always will be. And if by some miracle what you said is true and the Handler does recruit me, i'm going to find a way to fix this. I'll make sure you get your happy ending with Klaus."  
  
Next to the pocketwatch, Five feels the Eyeball he found on Luthers corpse and steels his resolve. He pats Delores gently on the head, and gets on his makeshift bike.  
  
Five-No. Aidan Hargreeves has work to do.


	4. Nobody Is Insignificant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Chapter 17 of 'Are you sure i'm not high?' The scene with Five and The Handler we didn't get to see. Five finds out why the handler is so adamant on getting her hands on us.  
> Told through Fives POV

**Nobody is insignificant**  
  
There are a lot of things Number Five wants out of life. Peace. A body that fits his age. A life with his siblings that doesn't involve the Apocalypse.   
  
Happiness was never one of them. Until now. Except, he wasn't looking for happiness for himself, no. He was looking for happiness for you. For the one person that for nearly 30 years, was his constant companion.  
  
Well, next to Delores that is.  
  
You knew him and his family, somehow survived an apocalyptic doomsday, and still managed to treat him like a normal kid. You gave Five hope where there was none. Hope that he could get back and start over. Simply because it was what you said had happened. Even if you were from a different universe, where all of this was fictional (And oh, wasn't that a hard pill to swallow).   
  
When Five had first come back to 2019, he had done everything in his power to get you and Klaus together. Klaus gave you happiness, and that made Five content (Even though he still doesn't know what you see in him).  
  
And you were happy. For a short time anyways. But then the two of you had to get kidnapped, and tortured. At first Five had assumed it was because of him. And normally he'd be right. Anything involving the Commission usually did.  
  
Until of course you came to Diego's home, battered, bruised and broken, and said the words he'd been dreading to hear since he came back.  
  
 _"Five, They know me. I'm a mark."_  
  
And then suddenly the world didn't make sense. Up is down, left is right, The Handler knows who you are.   
  
Coupled with the fact that the sanctimonious bitch had the audacity to attack his brother, your lover, over you? And separated him to a war-torn timeline that - had you not explained the severity of what he went through in the show - Five wouldn't have cared as much as he did now?  
  
Oh, Five had his moments of mercy. This was not one of them.  
  
Which brought him to his current situation. Waiting with Luther, about to meet the devil in red heels to demand a stop to this nonsense. To finally get some kind of explanation as to why she wants you so damn badly.  
  
When that fated Ice Cream truck came barreling through and the bullets started flying, Five wasn't scared. Confused, yes. But not scared.   
  
When time stopped, and the dreaded "Neat trick, isn't it?" came from behind him, Five would gladly admit that one time to being terrified out of his wits.  
  
He had to keep his cool. Stay calm under pressure, make sure she thinks she has the upper hand. "Hello, Five." Even her saying his name made his skin crawl. "You look good, all things considered."  
"Its good to see you again." Five truly couldn't say the same, but appearances must be kept and all that.  
  
"Feels like we met just yesterday, though of course you were a little bit older, then." Older, but not wiser. "Congratulations on the age regression, by the way. Very clever. Threw us all off the scent." Seriously? If a mere accident threw them off 'The scent', The Commission was full of bigger idiots than he thought.  
  
"Ah, well. I wish I could take credit. I just miscalculated the time dilation projections, and well, you know. Here I am." Here Five was, dealing with the hangover from hell, about to make a sacrifice play to save the world and so ready to bash this woman's head in.  
  
"You realize your efforts are futile. So why don't you tell me what you really want?" For you to die a painful, miserable death, you old cow.  
  
"Two things. One. I want you to put a stop to all this."  
  
"You realize what your asking for is next to impossible, even for me. What's meant to be is meant to be. That's our Raison d'être." It's bullshit in any language if you ask him.  
  
Five pulls out a gun and calmly points at it her heart. "Yeah? How about survival as a _Raison_?"  
The Handler just smiles and holds out her hands. "And the second thing?" She asks as if there isn't a legit threat to her life right now.  
  
"[Y/N]. What do you want with them?" Now we get to the real problem at hand.  
  
"It's simple really. They aren't meant to be here. We're just...correcting the mistake and sending them home." Really? Did she think Five was born yesterday? Five just scoffs and rolls his eyes.  
  
"And that included attacking my brother? Cut the crap. I know you don't have that kind of technology. So why don't you tell me the truth for once?" Five's finger is just itching to squeeze the trigger, give him a reason. Come on!  
  
The Handler sighs, put out by Five's demands. "Alright. If you must know, they have knowledge. Of the potential timelines, to be more specific. Being from another universe, they have an untapped potential to change...well, everything!"  
  
Five is incredibly confused. "But why? They're insignificant." They were just a person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got sucked into a universe they only knew from behind a screen.   
  
The Handler chuckles. "Oh, Five. Nobody is insignificant. They've already changed the timeline, can't you tell?" Five thinks back to all the little nods they made of the original timeline.   
  
_"Just think, In another timeline, this loveable dolt was rooting through the dumpster and eating garbage."_  
  
 _"His name is Dave and I don’t think, I KNOW he will, Unless i can figure out a way to keep him from being taken by Hazel and Cha-Cha!"_  
  
 _"I can save you the trouble and just TELL you who the eye belongs to.”_  
  
Oh, god. You've been changing the timeline from the second you came into this universe.  
  
"I see you understand what I'm trying to say." The Handlers words snap Five out of his thoughts and he looks back at her. "They know more about this universe than we do. We can capitalize on it, use their knowledge to our advantage."  
  
Five shakes his head and holds the gun up higher. "I've seen how you "Capitalize" things. Torture and brainwashing? No, I won't let them be subjected to more of that. Either you back off from this...pseudo-recruitment of theirs, and stop the apocalypse from happening, or..." Five waves the gun for emphasis. The Handler merely shakes her head in disappointment.  
  
"I'll just be replaced. I'm but a...small cog in a machine." She begins to inch closer. "This fantasy, you've been nurturing, about summoning up your family and that...freak...to stop the apocalypse...Is just that. A fantasy." Five glares at her from his position. She did NOT just say that. "Watch it. That's my family you're talking about."  
  
The Handler continues on as if he hadn't spoken. "I must say though, we're all quite impressed with your initiative, your...stick-to-it-iveness..." Five's pretty sure she just made that up on the spot.  
  
"...Really quite, quite something. Which is why we want to offer you a new position back at The Commission, In management." Five could have sworn he heard a record scratch. Say what now?  
  
He chuckles in astonishment. "Sorry, what's that now?"  
  
"Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you belong." Oh, Five belongs somewhere, just nowhere near you, you old hag.  
  
"Well, it didn't work out too well the last time." And it didn't, five years in that place only to dip out right at the end of his contract.  
  
"But you wouldn't be in the correction division any longer. I'm talking about...the home office." Ah, yes. Because sitting behind a cubicle in 1955 is on the top of Five's bucket list. "You'd have the best health and pension, and an end to this ceaseless travel. Your a distinguished gentleman in...schoolboy shorts." She looks almost disgusted by them and for a moment Five is kind of insulted. She WISHES she could pull off these shorts!  
  
"We have the technology to reverse the process. I mean you...can't be happy looking like this."  
  
Five takes a shaky breath. To say he wasn't tempted to finally look his proper age was a downright lie. But this wasn't about him. "I'm not looking for happy." A technical lie. He was looking for happy. Just not his own.  
  
The Handler runs a finger down his cheek and honestly Five is ready to either deck her or throw up from the double entendre. whichever came first. "We're all looking for happy. We can make that happen. We can make you...yourself again."  
  
Sighing, Five looks around. At Luther's protective form, ready to take a bullet for him. At Klaus and Diego, driving at a high speed to exact revenge on two agents simply doing their jobs. On you, head tucked into Klaus' shoulder, scared out of your mind, but still willing to help no matter what. "And what about my family?"  
  
"What about them?"  
  
"I want them to survive."  
  
The Handler looks around the family the same way Five did, only with more disdain. "All of them?"  
  
"Yes all of them."  
  
"Even the freak?"  
  
Five internally snarls but somehow still manages to keep a façade of calm. "Call them a freak again, and this bullet goes straight through your skull. Cog or no cog. They've been more shit than you could ever comprehend. So yes. Even [Y/N]."  
  
Sighing, The Handler puts her sunglasses back on. "Well, I'll see what I can do." Sticking out her hand, Five has the sudden feeling that he's about to make a deal with the devil. "Do we have a deal?"  
Five looks down at the hand extended in his direction, then back up at her expectant face. "One thing."  
  
He moves over and makes sure that the guns Hazel and Cha-Cha were carrying were emptied of their clips and separated.  
  
Then goes and adjusts the bullet aimed for Luther's head to instead hit the car a few inches to his right.  
  
But before he takes her hand and seals his fate...again...Five moves over to the Ice Cream truck and gazes upon your form. He opens the door and sighs tiredly at what he sees.  
  
You looked exhausted, probably from using your powers, he surmises. There was a bullet wound in your shoulder and while you were still wearing your red leather jacket, the blood was quickly spreading onto the leather. Five grabs a slip of paper and a pencil he had stashed in his blazer pocket and scribbles out a message.  
  
 _'I'll be back soon. Stay safe. 5.'_  
  
Five places the message in your pocket and cradles your face with one of his hands. Stroking your cheek "I'm going to get us out of this, I swear. Just...i need more time. I'll be back soon, okay?" Five is beginning to think he's developing an unhealthy addiction to keeping you safe.  
  
"Are you almost done? We do have places to be, you know."   
  
The Handlers words shakes him out of his stupor and he turns to glare at her.  
  
Bitch.  
  
Walking up and grasping her hand, the last thing Five can think of before the briefcase zaps him away is _'I hope I had the strength to make the right decision'_.  
  
And then time started up again.


	5. What would I do without you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Acts as a bridge between Chapters 17 and 18 of Are you sure I'm not high? A bit of a shorter chapter, but oh so much sweeter, and spicier!  
> Apologies if the translations aren't accurate, i got them off of google translate

**What would I do without you?  
  
**

Groaning into the bathtub, you sink lower into the bubbles and breathe deeply through your nose. After the events of the last few...days...Klaus had promised you a few hours of extreme pampering.  
And boy was he making good on his promise.  
  
Mango scented bubble bath, Vanilla scented incense, the sounds of rain playing on one the bathroom speakers (you weren't even aware the bathroom HAD speakers. "Daddy dearest wanted to be sure we were constantly aware of a mission alert." Klaus had explained. That...was severely disconcerting.) Klaus was pulling out all the stops to make sure you were treated like royalty.  
  
"And how are we feeling, Meine Liebe?" Speak of the devil...  
  
Klaus walks in carrying two cups of tea, you smile and make a 'gimme' motion with your hands. He chuckles and hands you one of the cups while setting the other down. He begins to undress and you slowly take a sip. "You have no idea how good this feels. I haven't been pampered this nicely in...well, ever!" You take another sip and try to guess the flavor. Chamomile? "Mm. What is this?"  
  
"White jasmine mixed with lavender and chamomile. I used to drink this all the time after training. Helps calm the mind and reduce stress." Klaus slides into the tub behind you and groans as the water warms his skin. "Oh fuck, that feels amazing."  
  
"Hey." You turn around and peck him on the lips. "Thank you for this. Truly."  
  
"Hey, no, you deserve it. After all the hits you've taken and the interrogations by my loving family...and being shot... I'm shocked you haven't snapped yet."  
  
Chuckling sadly, you turn back around and lay your head on his chest. "Ah, well. I'm used to it I guess." You pick up the hand with HELLO tattooed on the palm and begin playing with his fingers. "I used to be a people pleaser back in my old universe. The one everybody went to with their problems. Eventually I became so wrapped up in making sure everyone else was happy, I never really stopped to do the same for myself."  
  
You heave a sigh through your nose and take another sip of tea, groaning as the motion jostles your bullet wound. You had been lucky it was a clean hit, Diego had said. In and out, no shrapnel lodged from what he could tell, and the exit point was small enough that it hadn't torn any important muscle.  
  
Didn't mean it wouldn't hurt like a bitch, though.  
  
"ああ、それは痛い(Ā, sore wa itai)" You hiss and Klaus' eyes light up from behind you.  
  
"You speak japanese?"  
  
You make a so-so gesture with your hand. "Nothing spectacular. I took it back in high school."  
  
"Say something for me? C'mon, just a little bit?"  
  
You smile softly and look back at Klaus.  
  
"私に何を言いたいですか？"(Watashi ni nani o iitaidesu ka?)  
  
He lets out a little giggle and plants a kiss on your temple. "Du hast keine Ahnung, wie sexy du gerade klingst." He murmurs against your temple.  
  
Moaning in appreciation, you let your head fall against his chest. "Oh _please_ do not start speaking german to me. I'm already wrapped around your finger, I don't need to be putty in your hands."   
  
Klaus raises an eyebrow and you move to straddle him in the tub. "Oh? You have some kind of kink i wasn't aware of?"   
  
"No! I..." His raised eyebrow has a smirk thrown in and you sigh in exasperation. "Alright yes. It's a...voice kink more than anything else. With a little bit of accent thrown in." You carefully move your hands around Klaus' neck and gently kiss him. "Don't go spreading that around, though. I can't give your siblings any more ammunition against me than they already have."  
  
"Which is minimal to begin with."  
  
"Klaus, I'm pretty sure everyone but Vanya knows about my being from another universe...and the whole you guys being fictional thing." You feel bad that you haven't had the chance to go and see her, but other things have taken priority first. Like being kidnapped and tortured and shot.  
  
"Oh." Klaus' face falls rather comically. "Yeah, 'Oh'". He merely shrugs it off and moves to stand up, taking you with him. Shrieking in surprise you clamp your thighs around his legs and let him effortlessly carry you back to his room.  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Okay, the series did not touch upon how skilled Klaus would be with his hands. You may have been joking earlier about being putty in his hands, but god GOD the things he is doing to your lower back are nothing short of legendary.  
  
"Oh, my GOD. You should have been a masseuse. This is phenomenal!" You praise. He is working knots out that you must have had long before meeting each other.  
  
"Why thank you, I do try." Klaus chuckles softly. "And for a time I thought about it. But that job requires being sober, and being sober means seeing ghosts and well..." He trails off, lost in thought.  
  
"Yeah but," You turn so that you're facing him, "You've been mostly sober for over 2 months now. And you haven't had the urge to use anything harder than weed, even after quitting cold turkey. You could always try again. Actually, now that I think about it, Outside of the ones you've personally conjured, how many ghosts have you seen since meeting me?"  
  
"Aside from Bennerino? None." Klaus isn't quite sure where this is going. "Where are you going with this?"  
  
"What I'm trying to say is that...when I'm with you, I'm not seeing them either. What do you think that means?"  
  
Shrugging, Klaus moves so that he's the one straddling you now, "Maybe our souls are like two opposing ends of a magnet, and we're just cosmically attracted to each other, cancelling out the negative energies surrounding us?"  
  
Holy shit that was deep. "Klaus, are you trying to seduce me?" You smirk.  
  
"Maybe, is it working?" he smirks back and trails a finger down your abdomen, making you giggle from the sensation.  
  
You give his body a once over. "Well, we're both in your room, naked, and I'm not really feeling all that boneless right now."  
  
"Oh, is that so? Let's fix that, shall we?"  
  
You clutch his upper back and smile, "Oh, what would I do without you?"  
  
You don't leave his room for the rest of the night.


	6. Words of wisdom from Daddy Hargreeves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more info comes to light about how the reader came to the umbrella Universe, Klaus drags an old bastard, and god seems to have a soft spot for us...who knew?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during chapter 22 of Are you sure i'm not high?

**Words of wisdom from Daddy Hargreeves**

  
The moment Klaus felt his head smack against the concrete floor of the dance club, Klaus knew he was going to die. Some things you just...know. Like how coffee is bitter, or the sound of rain sounds nice at first, but after a while really makes you have to go and pee. And Klaus, being who he is, he honestly didn't expect any sort of After-life to come with being dead. He half-expected to be joining his ghostly brother, but other that well...  
  
Cards were up in the air on that one.  
  
So when he awoke, in some kind of grayscale forest, it honestly threw him for a loop. Looking around Klaus could see...what looks like a farmhouse off in the distance.   
  
The ringing of a bike bell causes Klaus to turn around and look at the...brown skinned little girl on a bike coming his way. Okay. Wasn't expecting that one, either, but he can roll with it.  
"Oh! Yoo-Hoo!" Klaus calls out and the girl stops her bike a few feet away. "Hello."  
  
"Almost didn't see you." Her words are monotone and calm. "You blend right in around here. So pale and all. They don't have any sun down there?"  
  
"Down there? Where am I?"   
  
"Where do you think?" Klaus heaves a sigh at her question. "I'm not sure, I'm agnostic, so-"  
  
"Doesn't really matter." Her words take on a sharp quality mixed with a decisiveness that Klaus isn't really sure he likes all that much.  
  
"You can't stay here." Well it isn't like Klaus wanted to be here to begin with, but these things sort of just...happen. "Why not?"   
  
"To be blunt, I don't really like you all that much." Oh. In another life Klaus might have agreed with her, but after meeting his moon and stars he finds he isn't so fond of that little dig anymore.  
  
"Normally I'd agree with you, but after meeting [Y/N], my sense of self worth has gone up a bit. I'm not looking for your approval." The little girls eye light up at the mention of his Universe hoppers name. "[Y/N]? Are they alright?"  
  
"What do you care? They aren't one of yours. And anyways I thought you were supposed to love all of us?" Klaus asks and the girl scoffs and shakes her head.  
  
"Where'd you hear that one?" The bible. Where else? "I need you so I can pick and choose. And had you not met [y/n] I would have said you just don't rub me the right way. Still don't, but they seem to be fond of you, so there must be something worth saving."   
  
"Wait...are you like...their parent?" The little girl shrugs. "If you like. They fell here during a dark period of their life. Came so close to just ending it all. I took it upon myself to watch over them personally, make sure they're okay." Adding as an after thought, "Also, cause their universes god asked me to, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway. Time is flying, so you'd better hurry up. He's waiting for you." She points over to the barn house and Klaus' eyes trail over.   
  
Dave. He could see him one last time! With a smile and nod of gratitude Klaus runs off to the house in search of his best friend. The little girl merely smiles and shakes her head. "Oh, [Y/N], what do you see in him?"  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Running from a meadow to a barbershop was - in a word - weird. And if Klaus didn't know better, he'd think this would be a weird place for Dave to be in.   
  
But unfortunately Klaus does know better. After learning about what Reginald did, and where he ended up from his little universe hopper, Klaus was more than prepared to deal with his father one last time.  
  
"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." He sang and slowly made his way over and sat in one of the chairs. A cloth was placed over his face. Bingo. He pulls the cloth off his face  
"Hello, father." Klaus drolls. "You're late. I expected better from you Number Four-"   
  
"Klaus." His words cause Reginald to freeze up. "What?"   
  
"My name. Is Klaus." Reginald regards Klaus for a moment. "Listen, if you're about to give some big spiel about how you were trying to bring us all together by offing yourself, I hate to say it, old man, but I've known that since day one!" Klaus laughs in his face at this knowledge. Oh, if he had been on his own, no [y/n], no support, nothing, Klaus might have been terrified of him. But right now, Reginald was just a dusty old man, dead in the afterlife.   
  
And Klaus had a few things to get off his chest.   
  
"You've bullied, berated, and tortured us all our lives, for some sick, twisted, goal of yours to stop a coming apocalypse, when the truth is you caused the apocalypse to begin with!"  
  
"I did not-" Klaus shushes him. "Oh, I'm not finished, old man. Let's run down the list, shall we?" This was something he's needed to get off his chest for years now, and he is NOT letting this opportunity pass him by! Not after what [Y/N]s told him. Klaus pushes him into the chair he was previously sitting in, Reginald looking stoic and statuesque like always.  
  
"Luther - So desperate for your approval, he killed any chance at a normal life before it even had time to manifest. You turned into a monkey man, and punted him to the moon for 4 years - probably indefinitely if [y/n] was right,- never bothering to read his mail, not even giving him a second glance once he was gone. Did you know he writes poetry? Of course you didn't." Klaus starts pacing like a schoolteacher.  
  
"Diego - You told him he was less than Luther, gave him such a hero complex that he has try and one up his brother constantly, and try and constantly be the leader, even when the situation doesn't even call for it."  
  
"Allison - Complete control freak thanks to you. You forced her to use her powers so much, that she ended up using them to get whatever she wanted, and now that she understands that she's essentially used her powers for her benefit for too long, she's afraid to use them at all! She can't even see her daughter because of it!"  
  
"Me? Oh, well, you only locked me in a tomb, ignored my pleas and begging, watched as I turned to drugs and booze to cope, never once trying to help me overcome my fear in a HEALTHY AND RATIONAL WAY! I HAVE PTSD BECAUSE OF YOUR BULLSHIT!" Klaus screams the last bit, but quickly regains composure. He doesn't know how much time he has left, and Klaus needs to get these things off his chest now, before it's too late.  
  
"Number Five - He time travelled to the Apocalypse and got stuck there for 45 some odd years, only to be headhunted by some time travelling assassins, all to try and prove you wrong. Now, he's a 58 year old man, stuck in a 13 year old body, with an addiction to stopping the apocalypse. And maybe coffee. I look in his eyes and some days I see more of you than him. Except the difference is, Five actually loves us."  
  
"Ben - He's dead. Thanks to you. He was so afraid of his own power that he could never control it properly, and you exploited that fear and used it for your own benefit! He would come home, crying his eyes out, covered in blood, thinking he was a monster, and you only ever told him he didn't do good enough. And when he died, instead of maybe, i don't know, comforting us, you placed the blame on our shoulders and told us to just suck less in the future."  
  
"And Vanya- sweet, sweet, Vanya- You locked her up beneath the house when she was 4, forced her to take emotional suppressors, brainwashed her into thinking she doesn't have powers - oh don't act surprised I've known for a while now - and alienated her from us. Now, She's gonna discover her powers, but not in a healthy and natural way, and may well in fact cause the apocalypse you were so damn desperate to stop!"  
  
Klaus' chest is heaving by the end of his little tirade. He let's out a "whew, that's better than any therapy." and places his hands on his knees, closing his eyes.  
  
"I see you've been spending far too much time with Number Eight."  
  
Klaus slowly stands and opens his eyes to see Reginald standing back up from the chair and coming to stand in front of him. Klaus snarls a bit, "Don't. Don't you dare call them that."  
  
"And why shouldn't I? They've been Number Eight since long before they came here. Oh, I've been watching them for years. Their universe depicts us as characters from a television show, if my memory is correct." Confused, Klaus watches as Reginald opens a box they had sitting on one of the counters. Inside were pictures of [Y/N], snapshots of their life. Times from when they were a child, a teenager, a young adult. Attending funeral after funeral after funeral. Watching their family fall apart around them. Crying over the letter they received at being no longer welcome on either side due to their sexuality and gender. Klaus was...horrified. "How do you have these?" He asks.  
  
"Years ago, before you children could even walk, I discovered a portal leading to another world. It showed Number Eight, a mere toddler, producing a shield the likes of which I had never seen. It was...remarkable. 10 feet wide and constantly growing. I sent people through to snapshot and record their life and send it back to me." He hands Klaus the photos. "Over the years the the shields began to die in size until they stopped forming completely. I assumed their lifestyle choices had this effect, They had a tendency to act like you, Number Four. Dramatic and insolent." Glaring a little, Klaus just flips him the bird. Reginald continues on.  
  
"Over time, the way they lived, it sent them spiraling. They were ready to end everything. All because they couldn't cope with their own failings." "Failings?! Hang on-"  
  
"Then one day, I found them watching our series, and suddenly the shield started manifesting again. They had no knowledge of it, of course. And I knew they had to come here."  
  
"You aren't saying...?" Klaus let's the question hang. Reginald doesn't say anything, but he doesn't have to because the silence speaks volumes. Klaus shakes his head and smiles cynically. "Oh, just when I thought you couldn't be more of a sadistic bastard, you ripped someone out of their own universe and threw them into ours?!"  
  
"They needed to re-discover their power. I never planned on them landing on YOU, however. The portal must have thrown them somewhere their soul would be drawn to the most. Somewhere they needed to be more than anything. And in this case..." Reginald sighs a gives Klaus a look of disgust, "...It happened to be you."  
  
"Well, I'm glad they landed on me, cause ever since I met them, my life has become 100 times better than it ever was living with you! My siblings actually give a shit about me now, I'm finally sober, The ghosts are at bay, and The love of my life is probably cradling my head in their lap as we speak! Face it, Old man! This is one relationship you can't fuck up! And I hope whatever afterlife you encounter is a cold and lonely one you sanctimonious prick!"   
  
And with that Reginald disappears and Klaus is left standing alone. "No, wait! Wait, please! I need to see Dave! I need to apologize!" Klaus quickly grabs the photos of you and tries to hang on only to be forcibly dragged back into the world of the living, but not before stuffing the photos in his back pocket, to pull out later.   
  
This was something you needed to see with your own two eyes.  
  
You've been supporting the Hargreeves for so long, It's time the Hargreeves supported you.   
  
Because you are going to need all the support that you can get.  
  



	7. November 25th, 1963

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The opening scene to season 2, but with the involvement of the reader

**In between scenes**   
**November 25th, 1963**

  
Five wasn't sure what to expect when he fell out of that portal. Maybe some vague hope that his family would be waiting for him, that wherever they ended up there wouldn't be another apocalypse. Maybe the universe [Y/N] had come from, even.  
  
What he arrived to was much more horrifying.  
  
Falling to his knees, Five looks up towards the portal that spit him out. "[Y/N]! Luther! Diego!" He looks on as the portal closes, and thinks that things might have been different if he had only listened to [Y/N].   
  
Oh, who the hell was he kidding? Five knows they would have been different.   
  
The sound of gunfire is what draws Fives thoughts away and he slowly makes his way down the alley to see soldiers fighting in the streets. Five could hear Russian voices as well as American and rushes out into the middle of the street to grab the newspaper sitting there. "Hey! Get down kid!" A soldier yells, but Five pays him no attention.  
  
"Soviets attack U.S" Five reads. "This can't be right?" This wasn't right. At no point did the soviets ever attack the U.S. Five looks on as soldiers fight and attack each other, not noticing the tank behind him.   
  
"What the hell did we do now?" The tank fires and before he has a chance to react Five hears "GET DOWN!" and is tackled from behind. Looking up, he spots... "[Y/N]? What the hell is going on?!" He looks down at the shield encasing him, solid and blue, unlike the mildly transparent shield he's used to seeing on you.  
  
"What's going on is we're in a war, old man! A war we caused! Look!" And you sweep your arms out, showcasing the destruction and devastation. The ballistic from the tank that fired is quickly destroyed by Vanya, levitating and glowing. Allison shouts out "Hey!" and slowly walks to a group of soldiers, smirking at them. " _I heard a rumor_...that I blew your minds." and like she said, her words caused their heads to literally explode.  
  
Five can see Diego on a car, soviet soldiers surrounding him. He quickly flips over the bullets, redirecting them to hit the men surrounding him. "Five! You sick son of a bitch, where the hell have you been!?"   
  
He sees Klaus, and an army of ghosts and spirits rushing out and attacking nearby soviets. "Shit." You breath and with a flash of electric blue you throw out a shield to deflect a nearby missile headed his way. Luther chooses that moment to jump down and take another missile to his back. Five looks behind him and his eyes widen. Following his line of sight Your eyes flash blue and a group of soldiers who were starting to charge at you are quickly blown back, some landing on the asphalt, a few hitting the walls and a couple a blown back so far there's no sign of them anywhere. Five can see blood where the soldiers hit the walls and they don't get back up again.  
  
"I don't understand, what happened?" Five asks you and you scoff, fixing the long black coat you were wearing and grunting in pain. "That's not important right now, what is important is making sure you're kept safe for when Hazel gets here." You grab his hand and pull him close to you. "You do not leave my side until then, got it?"   
  
"But what happened?" He insists. "Are you seriously still on about that?" You cry out and clench your eyes shut in pain. "What happened isn't important! It's gonna get reset in a few minutes, what does it matter?!"  
  
"So I know what to fix!" Five looks down and notices you clutching your side. He pulls your hand away and sees the blood coating it and looks at you, groaning but smiling through the pain. "Shit, you're hurt."   
  
"Course I am. Got shot a couple times, but it's okay...I'm...fine..." You suddenly collapse and Five grunts with the effort of holding your body up. It's a lost cause however and the two of you fall to the ground, you panting and crying out in pain.   
  
He looks over at Klaus and screams out "KLAUS!"  
  
Klaus looks over and his eyes widen at the sight of you on the ground, Five desperately trying to hold your weight up. "[Y/N]!" He cries out and quickly runs over, sliding on his knees to you and putting your head in his lap. "Oh, god. MEDIC!" he cries out and the look on his face is just pure inconsolable grief. "Not again, please god not again!" He cries.   
  
"I NEED A MEDIC!" Klaus practically screams out and the scene Five is witnessing is horrifying. He's still clutching onto your hand and Five can feel it get colder and colder as the seconds pass by.   
The sound of Missiles zooming by causes Five to look up and he can vaguely hear an air raid siren off in the distance. A sudden squeeze causes him to Look down, Five seeing you giving him an intense gaze.  
  
"You need to be ready. And I'm sorry, but hellfire is about to rain down on us and you need to be gone. Hazel?" Five looks up and sees Hazel looking down on him. When did he get here?  
  
"She's right, old timer." He points up at the sky. "Those are nukes. And we need to get out of here. If you want to live, come with me."  
  
"What about my family? What about [Y/N]? I can't just leave them!" Five looks down at you, cringing and groaning, at everyone fighting, but worst of all was Klaus. He was fighting a losing battle. You knew you weren't gonna make it, and judging by the look of devastation, so did Klaus. He's crying openly, cradling your head and pressing your foreheads together. Your murmuring words of love and endearment.  
  
"Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay." You reassure. "No it's not." Klaus cries. "MEDIC!!" He screams again, but to no success. "I love you, I'm so sorry." He's chanting and you feel a few tears leak out. It's getting colder despite the heat from the fires and destruction. "I love you." You whisper to Klaus, and you gently squeeze Fives hand one last time before it falls limply out of his grasp. Five can't say a word, just look on in shock as Klaus cries with grief and pain.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you can't save them if you're dead." Hazels words cause Five to look back at him and the proffered hand he has out.   
  
With a glance back to your body, and everyone surrounding it, Five takes his hand and they flash away.   
  
What he didn't see was everyone looking out at the horizon, seeing the mushroom cloud overhead and quietly accepting their fate. Klaus was still kneeling on the ground, still holding onto you even as the blast surrounded them. They all quietly looked down at you, letting a few tears slip out. This was a sacrifice worth making if it meant you would live. They would rather die in a nuclear blast with the hope that Five could save them, than Five staying only to lose the best thing to come into their lives.  
  
For what kind of a world would be worth living in, if you weren't in it?  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
When Five and Hazel arrive, there's decidedly less destruction and chaos surrounding them.  
  
"Okay," Five breathes, "What the hell was that?"  
  
"The end of the world. November 25th 1963." Hazel deadpans.  
  
"'63..." Five lets out a chuckle of disbelief. "You know, Hazel, I'm no history buff but I don't recall there being a nuclear holocaust."  
  
"No shit." Hazel agrees. Seriously? He just watched his best friend die in front of him. AGAIN. And that's all he has to say? "What about my family?! What about [Y/N]!?"  
  
"Dead, like everyone else." Oh, god. "And where am I now?" Five asks.  
  
"Dallas, same street. Just 10 days earlier. Plenty of time to restore the timeline and save them." Hazel slowly moves over to the bench and sits down, Five joining him. Okay. 10 days. Five can work with that. He's worked with less. No time to waste.  
  
"Okay, so where do we start?" And quickly grows shocked by the scoff Hazel sends his way. "We? You're on your own pal. I'm just here to keep a promise to Agnes." Agnes? The sweet woman who ran the donut shop?  
  
"Agnes, is she...?" Five can't bring himself to say the words.  
  
"Dead?"  
  
"Yeah." Hazel nods his head solemnly.  
  
"Cancer. Took her quick. But we had 20 good years together, I guess forever just wasn't in the cards."  
  
"Yeah." Five sighs. "I know the feeling." First Delores, now [Y/N], any other important figures the world would like to take from him? "I'm sorry, Hazel. What about the commission?" Five figures if Hazel has a briefcase, those commission half-wits can't be too far behind.   
  
"I quit those assholes, remember? I don't owe 'em the fuzz off my peaches." But Five is only half listening, standing up and staring at the 3 white haired men slowly stalking over to them. "Well then, who the hell are those guys?" They must have been new, Five didn't recognize them, and frankly they looked like IKEA mafia rejects. Or the Swedish blue man group, one of the two.  
  
Five looks on as they pull out SMGs and Hazel mutters a "Shit," and places something in Fives pocket before pushing the briefcase into his hands. "Run!" Hazel cries and Five blinks away behind a car as Hazel is gunned down in a hail of bullets.  
  
Panting, Five looks at the holes in the case, sighing in frustration. "How many times did I say bulletproof briefcases?" Situations like this were always bound to happen. He looks up, quickly gasping and ducking his head back down as the men started firing at the car he was hiding behind. Quickly blinking up on a rooftop, he lays, panting in exhaustion as the bullets continue to fly. Once it's quiet and Five feels like he has a moment to breathe, he slowly sits up.   
  
There are so few moments that Five can take to compartmentalize, he has to take them where he can. And right now, he feels as if he's owed one. Five just watched his best friend die. He just watched Hazel die. He just watched the world die.   
  
Because Five didn't listen to [Y/N].   
  
If there was ever a time to feel like a giant asshole, this would be it.   
  
All those times You tried to warn him, tried to give him help, only for Five to brush it aside in favor of "Maintaining the timeline." What good was maintaining the timeline, if you were dead?   
Five slowly puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out the pocket watch you had gifted him all those years ago in the Apocalypse. The watch had long since stopped working but that didn't matter, It was the idea behind the watch that did.  
  
 _'To Aidan'_  
  
Its a reminder as much as a gift. That he is human much like his siblings and thus needs to ask for help from time to time. _'I am more than a number'_ he reminds himself. Five isn't infallible and he needs his family now more than ever.  
  
Five blinks down to the bottom of the Alleyway and turns when he hears a camera shutter, seeing a man go back into the building.   
  
Well, Five decides, no better place to start asking for help.


	8. How best to say I'm sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther looks back and seeks advice on how to apologize to the reader after encountering Five for the first time in over a year.

**How best to say I'm sorry**

  
Luther was a lot of things, and not a lot of them were good. A leader, a hero, a soldier, an astronaut.  
  
A brother.  
  
He has sacrificed everything for his family. And when he thinks things couldn't get any worse, You come waltzing in, falling out of the sky and showing up as Klaus' partner and Fives best friend. And maybe Luther was jealous of the easy relationship you had with everyone. It took almost no time to make a place in the Hargreeves family. And maybe...Luther wanted that place as well. He knew his family loved him, but they didn't regard him like they did you.  
  
It opened a pit inside of him. And it ate, and it ate, and it ate. Until all that was left was an ache for the acceptance you were provided.  
  
And the incredibly sad thing is, you did provide it. You have been nothing but kind to him since day one. Sure you had your deadpan snark, but Luther always chalked it up to being around Klaus and Five too much.  
  
Being trapped in 1962 for the past year has given Luther time to think. Time to reflect. And in between fights for Jack Ruby, and hanging out at the burlesque parlor with Autumn, Luther can't help but think back at how often you tried to help, only for it to blow up in your face.  
  
About how Luther accused you of Patricide.  
  
About how no matter what you said to try and cheer him up, Luther only turned around and made you feel like garbage.   
  
He called you his dads pet project, more or less acted like you were the reason Allison got her throat cut, and walked out on you when you needed the support the most.  
  
Luther didn't know how to handle the influx of chaos that was surrounding you, so he chose to ignore it, and blame you for everything going wrong. You were an unknown, and when it came out that you were an obsession of Reginald's, that pit opened back up again.  
  
Didn't matter that you comforted him when he was drunk off his ass. Luther only saw that as you knowing about him being on the moon.  
  
Didn't matter that you took charge and saved Allison's life, he saw it as you knowing about it in the first place.  
  
Hell, it didn't even matter that you straight up took point and distracted Vanya just so you all could get to her first. It was a suicide run, that you gladly took point just so nobody else would have to.  
  
You were a better Number One than Luther could ever hope to be.  
  
So much good you gave to this family, but Luther was only able to see the bad. And now that he's able to take a step back and see the good in you, it's too late to apologize.  
  
Because Five's back, and Luther has just flat out said he doesn't give a shit.   
  
And to be fair, He doesn't. It's no longer his fight. He's no longer Number One. But Five being back probably means that your somewhere in the city, and that the rest of the family is as well.   
"You're the one who said we should jump, right? You and [Y/N] are the one's who got us stuck here!"  
  
Not really, and judging by the look on Five's face he was ready to kill Luther for that comment alone. "If it wasn't for me, you'd all be dead! And if we had listened to [Y/N], we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with!" Five hisses.   
  
Luther doesn't really have a response for that. Because he's right. Had he just listened to them when he had the chance, none of this would have happened.   
  
"We don't know that." He counters weakly and Five just scoffs at him. "I think somewhere in that big Gorrilla brain of yours that you know I'm right."  
  
"Yeah? If they're so right and all-knowing, what are the odds that you'll listen to them again? Huh? Because for all those times they tried to give us the answers you shot them down."   
  
"It's not like you were much better, Luther. As I seem to recall they tried to tell you about being on the moon for no reason and you shot them down as well. Repeatedly!" Five looks down, pensive. "We're all guilty of not listening to them. And we owe it them, and everyone else to make it right and stop this apocalypse before it starts."   
  
"If that's the case, it's probably Vanya. You took her with us, right? So if there is another apocalypse, she's probably the cause!"  
  
And before Five can respond Autumn comes up to Luther, her steps frantic and hurried.  
  
"Luther, honey, Jacks gonna lose it on some halfwit, a little help?" she begs and by the time he's done dealing with the drunk Bolshevik hater, Five is gone, along with any chance of explanation or apology.  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Autumn comes up to Luther once Five leaves and places a hand on his arm. "Are you alright, hon?" She asks. It's a kind question, but Luther doesn't have the patience for kind tonight.  
"Yeah, just...family stuff." Luther thinks for a moment. "Hey, Autumn, you said you had a sister, right?"  
  
"Mmhmm." She nods and sets her tray down on the counter. "Younger by about 5 years."  
  
"And you guys get into fights, right?" Autumn laughs kindheartedly at this. "Oh, all the time, over the stupidest things too!"  
  
Luther smiles a little at this, how people can just have a normal life like that. Something Luther would kill for. "Did you ever have a moment, where you said...or-or did something bad to her, and you wanted to say sorry, but you just...didn't know how? Or you did, but you didn't know how to go about doing it?"  
  
Autumn thinks on this for a moment, the sequins on her outfits glittering in the soft glow of the club. "Once." She says. "Back in '59. She was so young, barely 18. She had seen what I did for a living and wanted to be like her big sister...I told her off. I was so harsh about it too, said "This was no place for a good, kind girl like you"." Autumn laughs harshly. "Oh, but she wanted to be so much like her big sister, like the Dancers in New York. So she ran off, joined the burlesque girls upstate, out of spite. I called her up when I found out. Oooh, I was steaming, Luther. Absolutely furious. Told her she was a disappointment to the family name, that she didn't have any chance at getting a future. So much pain I caused with my words alone."  
  
"Hard to imagine a sweet girl like you with a voice sharper than steel." Luther jokes and the laughter feels foreign on his tongue. Like he doesn't have the right to it.  
Autumn giggles along with him, "I have a way with words like you wouldn't believe, Luther."  
  
"But she didn't...you know, hate you?"  
  
"No, no! Far from it, in fact. She understood that I was scared of losing her, that this wasn't a job to be taken lightly. But I felt horrible about the things I had said and went up for a weekend to see her. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy to see me. But I was honest with her. We talked it out."  
  
"So you just...owned up to it?"  
  
"I owned up to it. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, admittedly but it was the kindest." Autumn gives Luther a look of concern. "Who did you wrong to make you contemplate this, Luth?"  
  
"I..." Kinda hard to tell her that the person his brother was dating was from another universe, much less someone who has knowledge of everyone and everything. "My brother is dating someone, and they've been nothing but kind to me. But a while back I got jealous of the attention they were getting, and said and did some things that were...bad." Strangulation, accusation, ignoring them. Just to name a few. "And they and their boyfriend left a few years ago, and I haven't seen them since. Now that our family is getting back together again, I'm gonna see them, and well..."  
  
"You want to apologize and clear the air with them." Autumn assumes and Luther nods. "Yeah, problem is the last time we talked It...wasn't pretty." You did threaten to punch him in the throat after all.  
  
"Well, are you genuinely sorry?" She asks and Luther nods fervently. "I am. Its been about a year since I've seen them last, I just...I want to let them know how sorry I am. That I let my jealousy get the better of me and that I'm trying to do better, and I just...wanted to tell them I'm sorry. For everything.  
  
"I never listened to them." Luther continues and looks out at the crowd. "They only tried to help and I just shut it down every step of the way and it just led me to where I am now. Away from my family, away from my home, away from my time." he motions the bartender for a shot of gin and the man nods and pulls out a glass.  
  
Autumn hums and grabs the serving tray, placing a few drinks on it and moving to stand in front of Luther. "Well, sounds like you've got your hands full with them. If I were you hon, I'd just be upfront and honest. It's not gonna be easier to ignore the longer you put it off and you've already held back for over a year. After a while, the resentment just builds. You don't want that in your life...trust me." Autumn places a chaste kiss on his cheek and goes off to hand some drinks over to Mr. Ruby. Luther blindly grabs the shot glass behind him and downs it in one go, slamming it on the table and accidentally shattering it.   
  
He looks to the bartender who sends him a sour look. "Oops." Luther mutters and smiles at the man. "I'll uh, I'll pay for that."


	9. You need to remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya’s hallucinations while tripping on LSD. But with an extra dose of jiminy cricket in the form of our reader!

**You need to remember**

Vanya wasn’t sure what was happening. One second some weird lady was putting psychotropic drugs into her eye, the next thing she knew she was going down some...really wet steps.  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
She doesn’t know, how many times does she have to repeat herself?   
  
“Number Seven!”

Who said that? Who the hell is Number Seven? So many questions and Vanya isn’t sure she’ll be able to get the answers she needs. All she wants is Sissy and Harlan. Everything else can wait.  
  
When she comes to the end of the steps, Vanya finds herself in some kind of school uniform, inside a dining room. Inside is a man she had only seen in pictures, surrounded by the people who had claimed to be her family. All but one of them were standing behind their chairs, the one sitting down had kicked their feet up and was leaning back in their chair, arms crossed and a bored look on their face. A show of defiance.

“You’re late for supper.”

“Frankly I’m shocked you decided to come down here at all, I wouldn’t have blamed you for remaining in ignorance.” The one sitting down throws out. 

“Silence Number Eight.” The man sharply bites out and the person snarls back a “Bite me, old man.” They sigh and send Vanya a gentle look. “You may as well sit down, sweetie. It isn’t going to get any better from here.”

Vanya slowly takes her seat and one by one the others do too, You sitting between Klaus and Allison, Ben beside Klaus. On the other side Five, Diego and Luther. 

“Who is your handler?” She hears from above her and The white haired man repeats the question. 

“Vanya looks around at her so-called “Family.” People who she had no knowledge of, all sitting around a dinner table and wearing school uniforms like children. Even the rebellious one, the one who was called “Number Eight” - Vanya thinks their name was [Y/N] - was dressed in the boys uniform, having switched with Klaus, who wore the girls.

“Well? We’re waiting.” The man repeats the question and Vanya looks back at him confusedly.    
  
“I...I don’t...understand.” She responds and slowly everyone’s eyes turn to her. [Y/N] defiantly looks ahead and begins picking at their nails in boredom. 

“So you're not prepared, is that what you're saying?” The man assumes and Vanya looks even more confused. “Prepared for what?”

“It’s not her fault.” Ben softly says. “She hit her head. She can’t remember anything.”

“She got overheated. Wiped her mind clean.” Allison smartly replies.

Luther smirks at her. “She’s lazy. Didn’t study.”

“Maybe... she’s been faking it all along.” Klaus murmurs. “No, no that’s not it...I…” Vanya stutters out and [Y/N] calmly puts their feet down on the floor.

“Why are you all making such a big deal out of this?” They mumble. “She’s your sister, not a toy you can poke and prod.”

“You’re all wrong. Number Seven deliberately chooses not to remember.” And with that The man places his napkin on his lap while a woman in a 1950’s dress - Mom! How could Vanya have forgotten her?- leads a group of servants carrying plates.  
  
“Mom? Are you okay?” She asks and with a serene smile, Grace turns and looks at Vanya, showing off the circuitry in her face. “Of course I am, sweetie.”

“Vanya.” [Y/N] spoke up. “You killed her. You brought the house down around her and like a captain, she chose to go down with the ship.” The words are flat. Emotionless. A harsh reality for the hallucination she’s currently living in.

Vanya was speechless. “What? But…” But the chance to answer was interrupted when the plates in front of them were lifted to reveal...Oh, god are those  _ Brains? _

Vanya stares down at the object in disgust and confusion. Everyone around her looks like their favorite meal just got delivered to them, well except for Five and [Y/N]. They look at the offending items in indifference and apathy and in Fives case, a mild sense of trepidation.

“Something wrong?” The man asks -  _ Fuck!  _ The feeling of an electric current rushes through her body - Reginald? Dad? Vanya doesn’t even know anymore. 

“Just...not hungry.” Vanya mumbles and looks around the room as everyone begins digging in. Even [Y/N], though not without some obvious reluctance. 

“Try it.” Reginald insists. “It might help you remember.” The sounds of the FBI agents voice echoes through the room

The sounds of squishy brain matter and the clinking of cutlery are the only sounds in the room. Vanya can’t do anything but stare at the offending food, grabbing a fork and a knife and cutting off a tiny piece. Everyone stops and stares at her.

She puts it in her mouth and immediately starts gagging and choking, the sensations of memories flying through her. So many things. A woman, in Russia giving birth unexpectedly, a- a swimming pool, being surrounded by family. 

Everyone starts giggling at her pain, Five and [Y/N] being the only ones not to do so. [Y/N] looks down at their plate, pushing it away and glaring at it slightly. Five takes a sip of water to wash the offending taste away. 

“Number Seven!” Reginald scolds. “Either you remember, or you will go to your room without dessert!” So many childhood memories that went exactly like this. Vanya being the only one scolded while everyone else looked and giggled at her misfortune.   
  
Reginald slams his fist on the table and the lights flicker. Vanya looks around the room and suddenly the only people there are [Y/N], Vanya and Reginald. [Y/N] had stood, choosing to pace around the room, picking up things here and there and observing them. 

“Eat it.” Reginald demands. “Its getting cold.”

“I don’t want it.” Vanya tries to push it aside but it stubbornly refuses to budge.   
  
“I know you don’t want it.” He agrees. “But you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.”

“I’m not pretending!”

“Of course you are. You choose to live in a fantasy. A land of make-believe where you don’t have to face up to who you really are.” Where [Y/N] was standing, a portrait lit up, showing Vanya with Sissy, Harlan and Carl. “Rather than face the complexities of your own existence, you choose to hide inside someone else's.” Reginald walks over to Vanya. [Y/N] hangs their heads at this. “A silly life, on a silly farm. That’s not meant for you.”

“You wanted a fresh start so badly, your mind took the only option available and tried to erase your past. But I’m sorry Vanya.” [Y/N] looked over to her, a stare full of sadness and regret. “You can’t run from this. And you can’t hide.”

“I’m not hiding!” Vanya shouts and the lights flicker again. Reginald disappears and the only two people left are [Y/N] and her. “I...I’m not.” Vanya repeats quieter.

“I know you might not think you’re hiding. But unfortunately, you’re suppressing a part of yourself that needs to exist. Vanya. You need to remember.”

“But why? What good is remembering when it just confirms everything bad that’s ever happened in my life?”

“Because that’s how life works!” [Y/N] shouts. They take a deep breath and try to calm themselves. “Bad things happen. Good people die. And sometimes, trying to run and hide from the trauma is worse than owning up to it.” [Y/N] looks at Vanya with longing in their eyes. “I want you to have that life. That simple life with Sissy, and Harlan, and a farm. Believe me I’d kill for it, but you can’t hide from this! You need to face up to reality. And that means eating that disgusting thing.” They point to the plate still sitting in front of her. “No matter how afraid you are.”

“I’m not afraid.” Vanya mumbles, looking down. That was a bold faced lie. Vanya was terrified. She didn’t want to remember, she was happier just being Vanya the nanny on a farm with Sissy. They were gonna run away, go somewhere they wouldn’t be followed and just...live their lives in happiness and peace.

“We both know that’s not true. And that’s okay. It’s okay to be scared, god knows I’m scared every day of my life being in this universe.” They look down, biting their lip slightly. “I wasn’t there for you enough in 2019 but i’m not making that same mistake again.” [Y/N] takes Vanya’s hand in her own. “I’ll be with you no matter the decision, but you need to take that bite on your own. I’m not gonna force you to do this.”

“Why?” Vanya asks. They didn’t have to do this. They didn’t owe her anything, hell they didn’t even know each other that well. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because we’re family, ya dingus. Even if right now, I’m only a figment of your subconscious.” [Y/N] smiles at them, and Vanya smiles back, feeling the tension lift from her shoulders slightly. She takes the knife and fork and cuts off a larger portion of the brain, staring at it apprehensively. Vanya sets the knife down and takes [Y/N]s hand in her own. “Whenever you're ready.” They encourage and with a deep breath Vanya puts the piece into her mouth.

Immediately she starts choking and clutches her head in pain. The images flash by at rapid speed. The russian woman, the adoption, the glasses, the cold room with no sound and the pills, being rumored to believe she had no powers. All this flashing through her head and more. Slowly the room starts flickering and the gentle image of [Y/N] flickers and disappears entirely, leaving Vanya by herself.

The violin, her only source of comfort growing up. Five and Ben, and how badly their disappearance and death wrecked her. Growing up isolated. Alone. Shunned. Leaving at 18 and joining the orchestra. Writing the book that nearly disowned her from everyone. Dad dying. Leonard - no, Harold - manipulating her to use her powers. Seeing [Y/N] being treated with more openness and kindness than Vanya was ever granted growing up. That pit of jealousy at seeing them look down in shame when Vanya mentioned having powers. Cutting Allisons throat. 

Attacking [Y/N] who took every hit with their shield like it was nothing. Being so angry that they stood on, resolute and determined in the face of the end. 

The white violin raising them up higher than everyone else in the air. That feeling of satisfaction at their pain. 

The shot by her ear.

Blowing up the moon.

Being hit by the car.

Sissy. Sweet Sissy. Kind Sissy.

“I remember.” Vanya gasps and the room goes dark.


End file.
